


salt and the sea

by droid_activist



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Abandonment, Betrayal, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Happy Ending, Loss of Virginity, Marriage of Convenience, Mentions of War, No Pregnancy, Past minor character death, Redemption, Robbery, Shootouts, Unsafe Sex, Wild West, description of attempted hanging, mild violence, mining, one sided rey/hux
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:01:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26179909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/droid_activist/pseuds/droid_activist
Summary: The backwater western town of Niima has a law declaring that any man who is facing death row can be saved from the gallows if a reputable woman volunteers to marry him.Kylo Ren, masked leader of the fearsome outlaw gang The Knights of Ren, has finally been caught and sentenced to hang.Rey Plutt is a reputable woman in need of a husband, for reasons that are purely business motivated.Now the two must work together to build a relationship out of necessity, and may come to find they have more in common than they think.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 38
Kudos: 145





	salt and the sea

**Author's Note:**

> trigger warnings: this entire chapter contains descriptions of an attempted hanging against Kylo. 
> 
> Also, this story is set during the civil war era, but since this is a work of fiction, I've decided to replace it with vague references to an unspecified "war" that can be about anything. It won't really feature much in this story. 
> 
> If you notice any tags I might have missed or if you need me to add some, pls do not hesitate to reach out to me!
> 
> That said, this story is loosely based on a movie from the 70's called "Goin' South." I'll be borrowing some of the main beats from that movie but this story will be it's own thing. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!

The sun is an unblinking eye over Niima, it’s searing gaze fixed steadfastly on the town's gallows and the small crowd that is gathered there. 

At high noon, the cerulean sky is vast and indifferent, offering neither a wisp of cloud nor drop of rain to dissipate the sweltering heat. Even the breeze blows like a hot, oppressive breath. 

It’s enough to bake madness into the minds of anyone foolish enough to endure it for long, and perhaps that is why the only thing crueler than the Niima sun are the people upon which it beats, blisters and burns. 

Afterall, only one thing could draw the townspeople away from the cool shelter of their homes and into the dry, dusty street on a day like this: A hanging. 

Kylo Ren, masked leader of the fearsome outlaw gang The Knights of Ren, has finally been caught, accused of horse thieving and bank robbery. 

The townspeople are thirsty for his blood after he made off with the contents of their vaults last week. And they are curious too, like Rey. 

They bristle around her with excitement, speaking in eager voices. She catches bits of their conversations, interest piqued. 

_“Ms. Lintra said he’s got the face of the devil...”_

_“Tried to choke poor Pastor_ _Dameron_ _to death when he went to give him his last rites...”_

_“Big as a bear and twice as ugly...”_

Their tales grow as tall and dark as shadows the longer she listens. Whoever Kylo Ren is, they make him sound like a monster. 

Rey is starting to question if her coming here was worth it, if suffering in this suffocating heat is clouding her judgement. She has never come to a hanging before, doesn’t get the same thrill as the others over watching someone die. 

But she has a particular interest in _this_ man. Not because he stole from her, she had very little for him to steal in the first place, but because if rumors are to be believed, he’s a hulking beast of man. 

And she _needs_ a man like that... 

\----------- 

When Sheriff Hux finally drags Kylo Ren out of the towns jail, his face is covered by a black hood and he’s led by his rope bound hands. The cheers from the crowd are unsettling, and the look on Sheriff Hux’s face is even worse. It’s triumphant, insufferably smug on his pale, pointed features. 

It’s no secret that it was _his_ prized horse Kylo Ren stole after robbing the town blind, and Hux had garnered a personal vendetta against him ever since. He’d been pursuing the Knights of Ren with a singular, tireless focus. 

Rey had the unfortunate experience of being the object of Hux’s dogged interest herself. He’s asked her out on every occasion he gets, even showing up to her home unannounced and uninvited. He’s been nothing but an irritant to her since Plutt died and remains one even now. When he spots her in the crowd, he seems to puff up even more, winking at her as he passes. 

She scowls, and the blood that boils in her veins has nothing to do with the heat. 

She isn’t here for his show. She’s here for his prisoner, and judging by the man’s tall frame, the strong arms that she can see straining against his black Longview shirt, he is _exactly_ what everyone said he was. 

“Kylo Ren,” Hux says over the din of cheers and hollers. “You’ve been found guilty of thievery and sentenced to be hanged. Do you have any final last words?” 

A hush falls over the crowd, a hunger for his remorse, for his pleading. 

Instead, a muffled “Fuck you,” is spat from under the hood, in a voice that is deep and sharp. 

A collective gasp rolls through the crowd, as if the utterance of a swear word is as dark as any other crime he’s accused of committing. 

“Well,” Hux sneers, “You talk as ugly as you look Ren.” 

“You’d know all about lookin’ ugly, wouldn’t you Hux?” 

Rey is close enough to hear the insult, to see the righteous indignation that twists the sheriffs face as he shouts to the hangmen, “String him up!” 

A few men step forward to wrestle the noose around Kylo’s neck, but she has no intention of letting them get that far. “Stop!” Her voice is loud, carrying over the jeering crowd. Everyone silences and turns to look at her. 

“Rey?” Hux fixes her with a look that is equal parts confused and flabbergasted. “What is it?” 

She summons her courage and lifts her chin. “I would like to claim him.” 

The sheriffs face crumbles in a way she finds quite satisfying. “ _What_? My dear, he’s an _outlaw_.” 

“Yes,” she replies flatly, revolted at the endearment. “I assumed that was why you were hanging him.” 

“But you...” He’s trying to fit the pieces together, to examine this unexpected turn of events as if it’s another crime to be solved. “Rey, are you drunk? _”_

_“_ You know I don’t drink Sheriff.” 

With the eyes of the crowd now on them, Hux struggles to keep his bravado. He’d wanted to give the people a hanging, not a show of his own humiliation. “What do you want with _him_? He’s not a good man. He--He _stole_ my horse.” 

“The town ordinance says that any man, short of a murderer, can be saved from the gallows by any property-holding female provided she decides to marry him.” It’s Hux’s own ordinance, put in place after so many of the town’s men had gone off to war and never came back. 

It had seemed ingenious at the time. He likely hadn’t considered that it’d someday be used _against_ him _._

“I’m a property-holding female Sheriff, and I want to marry that man.” 

“ _That_ man?” he snaps, jabbing his finger at the hooded figure of Kylo Ren. “That man there? The one that stole from me and these good people?” 

Kylo is no longer wrestling against the guards' grip, body suddenly rigid. 

“Yes sir.” 

With a snarl, Hux snatches the hood off Kylo’s head. The silent crowd seems to come to life again as his face is revealed. Long dark hair, sweat dripping from a long pronounced nose, a thin scar bisecting pale, mottled skin. “THIS man? You want to marry _T_ _HIS MAN_?” 

She sees Ren's eyes, and it’s like having the breath knocked out of her. They are dark and wild, _intense._

And when they fall on her, they are full of disappointment. 

“Yes sir,” she answers Hux again, keeping her voice strong and sure. But she doesn’t feel quite so bold now. 

It shouldn’t bother her, the way Kylo looks at her. She doesn’t want a _real_ marriage to him. She has no use for a companion, or a lover. She just needs a _partner_ , someone with muscle and grit _._ When the work is done, he can go his own way and she will go hers. It’s what she wants. But she has to admit that it does rankle, just a bit, to be looked down on. 

“I asked you out a hundred times and all I ever got was a flap of your umbrella! Shit!” Hux spits on the platform. “What do _you_ say, Ren? Huh? Are you gettin' hitched or are you gettin' hanged?” 

Rey would expect anyone not to choose the latter, but Kylo seems to consider it for a long moment, as if weighing his options. When he finally grits out the word “ _Hitched,”_ it's as if it’s costing him his right arm to say it. 

“You’ll pay for this you son of a bitch,” Hux growls, jerkily cutting the rope from Kylo’s hands, “One way or another you’re going to swing.” 

Kylo’s tone is dismissive, unconcerned. “We’ll see.” 

The sheriff looks for a moment as if he’s going to use the knife in his hand to carve another scar into Kylo’s face, but he seems to realize that he’s done enough damage to his reputation today. He pockets it, and stomps off through the crowd in a fury, back to the jail. 

Pastor Dameron comes forward then, with a heavy sigh and a weary expression on his face. He gestures them both towards the chapel, where they’ll be married. “Let’s get this over with,” he says, grim. 

Rey can’t help but feel like _she’s_ the one walking to the gallows now. 

**Author's Note:**

> find me on twitter [@activistdroid](twitter.com/ActivistDroid)


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